Djokovic wins longest match since '79

NEW YORK - They broke out odd little dances after hitting big shots, swaying their hips and rocking their arms to music only in their heads.

They pushed their beleaguered bodies this way and that for 4 hours, 44 minutes on Friday, swatting balls from impossible angles and somehow rarely missing the mark.

Through repeated visits from trainers, through all manner of momentum shifts, No. 3-seeded Novak Djokovic and former top-10 player Radek Stepanek produced as entertaining and lengthy a U.S. Open match as there's been in quite some time.

Djokovic has emerged as a potential challenger to No. 1 Roger Federer and No. 2 Rafael Nadal, and on this day, he emerged victorious, if only barely, beating friend and sometime-doubles-partner Stepanek 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (2).

When it ended, Stepanek stepped over the net, dropped his racket and trudged over to apply a bearhug so hearty the weary Djokovic nearly toppled over.

"As much as I was running and sliding and cramping, whatever, I still had a lot of fun," Djokovic said. "There are a couple of points that are really unforgettable."

And, oh, how many points there were - 356 in all. The match lasted 63 games, the most at the U.S. Open since 1979. That year, John Lloyd and Paul McNamee played the same number to set the tournament record for most games in a singles match since tiebreakers were introduced in 1970.

"Long day," Djokovic said. "Long match."

It was another super day for his Serbia at another Grand Slam, too, with No. 3 Jelena Jankovic and No. 5 Ana Ivanovic reaching the women's fourth round. Another Serb, Janko Tipsarevic, was scheduled to face Nadal at night.

Also at night, two-time champion Venus Williams was to meet No. 21 Alona Bondarenko, with the winner taking on French Open runner-up Ivanovic.

Safina's older brother, 25th-seeded Marat Safin, didn't put up much of a fight in a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 loss to Stanislas Wawrinka. Safin then was reminded that Pete Sampras predicted the Russian would spend many years at No. 1 after winning the 2000 U.S. Open.

"Even the geniuses make mistakes," Safin said.

Wawrinka now meets 2005 semifinalist Robby Ginepri of the United States. Another American, Mardy Fish, led No. 8 Tommy Robredo 4-1 in the fifth set before dropping the last five games and the match, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-4.

Fish's explanation? "I froze," he said.

That one was played in Arthur Ashe Stadium and lasted 3 1/2 hours, which seemed like nothing in comparison to what went on over at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

"I am totally exhausted. No energy. I smell my shoes - they are so stinky," Djokovic said, then noted that he was fighting cramps "in both of the legs and an arm and back and head."

He got his upper legs massaged a few times. During one break, he plopped down on his stomach so a trainer could knead Djokovic's lower back. Stepanek, too, needed help at changeovers.

Yet both just kept going, remarkably combining for only 88 unforced errors despite the number of shots they hit.

Somehow, both found the strength to play to the crowd, waving their palms or cupping a hand to an ear to ask for louder cheering. Djokovic celebrated a couple of big points by leaping high with a scissor-kick and an uppercut.

On one marvelous exchange, Djokovic's shot clipped the net and barely went over, but Stepanek raced to get the ball and slap it across his body. Djokovic got to that, forcing Stepanek to race back to the baseline for a defensive lob that Djokovic simply tapped in for a winner. Djokovic then let his racket fall so he could do a quick jig.

At 4-4 in the fifth set, Stepanek flubbed a shot and mocked himself - and, perhaps, his opponent - with his own two-step. Later in that game, Djokovic hit a volley-lob, forcing Stepanek to retreat to the baseline for a back-to-the-net, over-the-shoulder shot. Djokovic volleyed that into the open court, and Stepanek hit an on-the-run, through-the-legs response that, alas, sailed long.

Spectators regaled Djokovic and Stepanek with standing ovations during changeovers, before the fifth-set tiebreaker and, of course, at the finish.

"You just want to leave everything you have on the court, you know, to appreciate their support," said Stepanek, a Czech who dropped from a career-high ranking of No. 8 in July 2006 to out of the top 100 after dislocating a disk in his neck.

"Novak was the luckier one today, but I can be proud of what I did on the court today. It's tough to be proud when you lose."

If he's recognized at all, Stepanek might be best known for having recently been engaged to five-time major champion Martina Hingis - and for having asked a tour spokesman to announce at a recent tournament that the wedding was off.

The 20-year-old Djokovic, on the other hand, is quickly gaining popularity, thanks to his engaging personality and his YouTube-posted impersonations of other players.

Ah, yes, and his results. He reached the semifinals at the French Open and Wimbledon, and followed that up by beating then-No. 3 Andy Roddick, Nadal and Federer in succession at Montreal in early August, the first player in 13 years to defeat the top three men at a single tournament.

"I had some impressive results this year," Djokovic said. "Of course, the people expect me to do well."

He didn't disappoint Friday.

The U.S. Open is the only Grand Slam tournament that uses a tiebreaker to end fifth sets, and Stepanek compared it to playing the lottery.